James Cameron's Avatar: Sins of the Father
by Blade for Hire
Summary: He gave up that life fifteen years ago. Now, he takes up the old mantle once more. All for his son, Davian. Bryan Steele will soon discover the wonders of Pandora...and the horrors the RDA is plotting. Sequel to JCA: Paradise Revisited. OC. Complete.
1. Prologue

James Cameron's Avatar: Sins of the Father

Prologue

**Resources Development Administration Corporate Offices Branch**

**Los Angeles, U.S.A., Earth, Sol System**

**0630 Hours, 16 March 2159**

The man sat in the office, looking at the empty chair behind the desk in front of him. He'd been waiting here for over an hour, and it was starting to get on his nerves. He didn't like being summoned and then summarily ignored like a number on a timecard. He ran his hand over his stubble-covered face and up over his blue eyes, back through his thick dark brown hair. He had half a mind to get up and walk out if it weren't for his curiosity keeping him in that chair. The longer he waited, though, the more attractive the idea became. Finally, he heard the door behind him open and the footsteps of someone walking in. He looked over his shoulder, the look of disdain on his face only hardening. It was about time they sent someone to deal with him.

The corporate suit stopped next to the man's chair and smiled, "Mr. Bryan Steele. I've read a lot about you." He offered his hand, "It's a pleasure, sir."

The man, Bryan Steele, merely glanced at the outstretched hand before glaring up, "Spare me the bull, Selfridge. Why am I here? I don't get calls from the RDA in the middle of the night for no reason." His resonating voice carried a malevolent growl.

The official, one Administrator Parker Selfridge by name, retracted his hand and nodded as he walked around behind the desk, "Straight to business. I can respect that." He sat down in the chair, "You're here because we need your help, Mr. Steele."

Steele scoffed loudly, "You need a lot more help than what I can give. You're still staring down the barrel of a war crimes trial. I'd like to see your precious shareholders get you out of that."

Instead of getting defensive, Selfridge just nodded casually, "We have suffered some…setbacks, yes, but the RDA is confident that our plans for recovery will make all that just a fleeting memory. And I'm giving you an opportunity to be a part of that, Mr. Steele."

Steele sat back in his seat, "I've got a funny feeling that you don't need me as a construction contractor."

Selfridge nodded again, "You're instincts serve you well, Mr. Steele. We require an…alternative skill set that you possess."

Bryan shook his head slowly, "I left that life a long time ago. It's been fifteen years since I've even held a gun, much less killed anybody. Why me?"

"Because, even though your skills are fifteen years old, you're still the best there is at what you do, Mr. Steele."

Steele shook his head again, "What I do is something I'm not very proud of."

Parker opened his hands and shrugged, "You're one of the best soldiers who ever lived. What's not to be proud of?"

"Soldier?" Steele snickered, "I think you mean 'assassin'. And there's plenty to not be proud of there." He stood up, "You've got the wrong guy. Find someone else to do your dirty work."

Selfridge sat back in his seat, "The RDA can pay whatever you want, Mr. Steele. You can name your…"

"You don't get it, do you!" Steele angrily slapped his hands down on the desk, "No offer you can put on the table can convince me to go back to that life. I left it behind a long time ago, and with good reason. I'm just glad my son didn't follow in his old man's footsteps. He's going to make something of himself." He turned away to walk out the door, "Find yourself another lackey."

"Actually, Mr. Steele," Selfridge spoke up from behind him, "this pertains to your son."

Steele stopped in his tracks with his hand just shy of the door's handle. He hadn't heard from his son for over ten years since he left for college and Alpha Centauri. What did the RDA know of him?

He turned around, "What do you know about Davian?"

Selfridge motioned to the seat Steele had just vacated, "If you'll sit down and hear me out, I'll be happy to explain."

After weighing his options for a long moment, Steele sat back down in the chair, "I'm listening."


	2. Chapter 1

1

**Sector 14**

**Pandora, Polyphemus Orbit, Alpha Centauri System**

**1028 Hours, 3 April 2164**

Two avatars, scientists, knelt over the roots of a large tree in front of them in the small clearing, their equipment laid out next to them. Both were well studied and both had been on Pandora for several years since the Augustine Xenological Research Foundation had come to study the planet. In spite of all that experience, the world was still reluctant to give up her secrets to them. Both were becoming flustered with their lack of progress that day.

Sally, the team linguist, looked up from the root in front of her to her partner, "Will, can you get me a specimen container from my pack, please?"

Will, an anthropologist by major but minoring in botany, reached back to where the gear lay, "How big do you need?"

Sally shrugged, "Doesn't matter. A smaller one, if there are any left, but…" She was cut off by the sounds of the foliage around them rustling loudly. She looked up from the tree root and glanced around the clearing. The sound seemed to be coming from all around them all at once.

"Did you hear that?"

"Yeah, I heard it." Will pulled the M-60 from his gear and looked around, "Question is what caused it." The sound came again, closer this time, and Will put the rifle to his shoulder to scan the area. Just then, a chorus of war cries and whoops heralded nearly a dozen Na'vi warriors bursting out of the brush, bows held drawn and ready to fire. Both scientist avatars stood up as the warriors closed a circle on them.

Will took his hand off the grip of his gun and held it in one hand to show non-hostile intentions, "Uh, Sal? I think we're screwed."

Sally swallowed hard as she looked around at the warriors surrounding them, "How do we get out of this?"

"How?" Her partner looked over his shoulder, "You're the linguist! Say something tribal-sounding."

Sally stepped forward, her hands held apart unthreateningly, "{We mean you no harm. We're just getting some samples from this tree.}" Suddenly, another warrior, presumably their leader, dropped from a branch above and landed about a meter in front of Sally in a crouch, causing her to jump. His black hair was shaven at the temples and the rest descended his back in a mohawk of dreadlocks that ended in a loose ponytail between his shoulder blades. A long hunting knife was strapped to his chest and there was a longbow with accompanying arrows across his back. He stood and turned to face them, saying something that sounded rather threatening in Na'vi.

Will's gaze swapped between the warrior and his partner for a moment, "What's he saying?"

Sally shook her head as he spoke, "Something about how Eywa doesn't want us to be here."

"Eywa doesn't…!" Will rolled his eyes, "Oh, we're _definitely_ screwed."

Sal stepped forward to the leader, "{We have permission from your _olo'ektan_ and _tsahík_ to be here. We're just studying the…}" The warrior cut her off with a sharply snapped comment in Na'vi.

Will leaned closer to Sally, "He doesn't sound happy, Sal. I think you pissed him off."

Sally paused and narrowed her eyes. There was something very familiar about the warrior in front of her.

"Wait a second…" She examined him for a moment longer before her eyes widened, "Davian?"

Once the revelation was announced, Davian burst out laughing uncontrollably, as did all of the warriors around him. They all lowered their bows and assumed a docile stance, having obviously gotten a good laugh at the two scientists' expense. After several long moments of cackling like a deranged hyena, Davian took several deep breaths to calm down.

He pointed at both of them, "You should've seen your faces! Priceless!"

"Darn you, Davian!" Sally stepped forward and punched him in the shoulder, "When are you going to cut that out?"

The former human shrugged, "When you guys quit falling for it." He motioned to his warriors and half of them headed back into the jungle while the rest secured the clearing, "It's been a while. What've you guys been up to?"

Will rolled his eyes, "Aside from soiling ourselves, no thanks to you, Dr. Simon has us collecting floral samples in this sector. Although, I think we'd make more progress if we tried to dig to the other side of the planet with spoons."

Davian folded his arms, "What's the problem?"

Sally jerked her thumb over her shoulder at Will, "The problem is that even the mini-botanist here can't tell one fern from another. And Dr. Simon wants us to get samples of every species and subspecies."

The former scientist furrowed his brow for a moment before nodding, "I think I can help with that." He looked toward his warriors and called to one of them in Na'vi, motioning her over. The warrior woman who responded carried a spear with a large feather sticking out of the top.

Davian motioned to her, "Guys, this is Altira. She's one of the clan herbalists. She'll be able to help you with your plants."

Will looked at Davian out of the corner of his eye, "Does she speak English?" Given Davian's prankster nature, he wouldn't put it past him to give them an herbalist who only speaks Na'vi just as a joke.

Altira nodded to them, "I know your words enough to speak them. It is my honor to help you."

"Thanks, Davian." Sally thought for a moment before shrugging, "I guess I can forgive you now."

Will nodded, "I'll definitely forgive him. She's cute, too." Sally responded to the comment by reaching over her shoulder and smacking his chest. Will and Sally had been dating steadily over the last year. Davian was convinced they'd already used their avatars to "commune beneath the Tree of Voices", as the local saying goes. For some odd reason, Will seemed to enjoy getting in trouble with his girlfriend on a regular basis.

The ex-marine rolled his eyes, "Great. One prank, and it's the doghouse for me." He chuckled quietly, "Speaking of Dr. Simon, is she still hanging around Hometree?"

Will shrugged, "Last I knew, she was still doing research on the Omaticaya. That'd be the best place to find her. She's been spending a lot of time up there lately."

"No kidding." Davian scoffed, "She's at Hometree more than I am, and I live there." He whooped a brief call to his warriors and they started heading into the jungle, "I'd love to stay and chat more, but I've got to get my patrol back home. It was good seeing you guys again. Stay in touch." With that, Davian left his herbalist with the two scientists for the day and headed into the jungle to find where he'd left his _pa'li_. He hopped up into the saddle, bonding his queue with the direhorse's antenna as he did so. He'd made _tsaheylu_ so much with various animals since joining the clan that the action was second-nature to him these days. They headed back for Hometree at a casual pace since half of his warriors were on foot. The journey back to _Kelutral_ was a little less than an hour before Davian found himself looking on the gargantuan tree that housed his clan. He looked up at the mammoth plant and sighed. This was home.

After dismissing his warriors for the day, Davian went about searching for Dr. Simon. Chances were she could be found watching the clan children as they played games. Anita always had a soft spot for kids. Sure enough, he found her watching some kids playing with their banshee catchers, practicing wrapping them around some sticks. Anita's avatar looked back and smiled as she stood up to greet her former team member.

"Hi, Davian." She opened her arms to wrap him in a hug, "It's been a while."

Davian shrugged as she released him, "Not that long. Tell me truthfully, doc. Why do you spend so much time here?"

It was Dr. Simon's turn to shrug, "I'm just doing proper research."

"Research…right." Davian chuckled lightly, "Call it what you want, doc. I think you're going native on me."

Dr. Simon shook her head, "I am not going native. I picked up your research where you left off, but I don't have the same first-hand experience that you do. So, I have to come here and make my own."

"Right." Davian nodded as he lifted a strand of Anita's hair that was wrapped and beaded as a traditional Omaticaya braid, "And _this_ would just be a part of your 'research', I assume?" Dr. Simon's eyes widened when she saw that Davian had discovered that little detail. "Going native" or not, it was clear that the biologist/anthropologist had become quite attached to the Na'vi in the time she'd spent on Pandora.

She swatted his hand to make him let go of her hair, "Don't you have someone else to pester?"

Davian shrugged casually, "I already pestered Will and Sally. It's your turn now." He chuckled lightly at Anita rolling her eyes at him, "Well, I'll let you get back to your 'research' or whatever you want to call it. I'll see you around, doc." Dr. Simon waved him off as he turned to leave. There was one last person Davian was looking forward to seeing the most. Interestingly, she was the person he saw most often, but he never got tired of seeing her. Davian's mate, Sateyah, was the person closest to his heart. She had taught him the ways of the hunter when he was first adopted into the clan, and they had both fallen for each other during that time. Now three years later, they were a mated pair and still very much in love. Davian found his beloved mate working with some other women of the clan by one of the inner roots of Hometree, getting some food ready for preparation. Sateyah noticed him as he approached and smiled brightly at him. He walked around behind her and knelt down to wrap his arms around her waist and rest his head on her shoulder as she worked.

Sateyah giggled as she rested her head back on his shoulder, "Davyan, I am busy."

"I know." Davian shrugged, "That hasn't stopped me before."

"Everyone is staring at us." Sateyah looked around at the other women who were looking at them and whispering and giggling amongst themselves as the two lovebirds went about their business. Sateyah often heard the voiced jealousy of some of the other young Na'vi women about how her mate doted on her the way he did.

Davian leaned over her shoulder, "Am I making you nervous?"

"No." Sateyah giggled again, "But it is difficult to work like this."

"Okay. I can take a hint." The former human chuckled quietly as he released his mate from his grasp, "I suppose I should…"

"Davian."

He looked to where the strong male voice came from. Only one person in the clan called Davian by his human name, interestingly the only other former human in the clan. Davian looked to where Jake was standing further away from everyone. Jake Sully was _olo'eyktan_ of the Omaticaya, and Davian had been his second-in-command for three years now.

Davian stood and approached his superior, "What's up, Jake?"

Jake jerked his head toward the tree's spiral roots, "I need to talk to you. In private." Davian's brow furrowed curiously as he followed Jake up the roots and into one of the higher alcoves of the tree. Normally, Jake was open with the clan's business. It wasn't often that he and Davian discussed things in private.

When they reached the alcove, Jake turned around and folded his arms over his chest, "Davian, you remember Tsu'Kal? _Olo'eyktan_ of the Karanya clan?"

Davian nodded immediately, "Yeah, we met at the clans-meet last year. Good guy."

Jake took a nervous breath before continuing, "He's dead."

"Dead?" Davian's golden eyes widened, "But…how? What happened?"

"Assassinated. By humans."

Davian furrowed his brow, "You're sure it was humans?"

Jake nodded, "I saw the body. He was shot in the head at long range. That rules out anyone but humans. His second is holding the Karanya together for now, but they're all pretty spooked. I can't say as I blame them."

"You want me to look into it?"

Jake shook his head, "I'm already running down some leads. I just wanted you to be aware of it for now." He stepped closer and lowered his voice, "Just to be safe, don't tell anyone else except for Sateyah about this. We're just getting over the issues Marigold caused. I don't want this throwing the clan into a panic until I can confirm that it's a threat."

Davian nodded firmly, "You got it." With Jake's dismissal, he turned to head back down the spiral roots of the tree. He had known clan leader Tsu'Kal for less then a year, but hearing this news about his sudden demise was still shocking to say the least. Davian looked out at the sky as he set foot on solid ground. It seemed that these few brief years of peace they had were coming to an end. Why couldn't everyone just leave them alone?

The rest of the day went by in a haze as Davian contemplated what effect this news would have on the Omaticaya and other clans. If they were lucky, they could prove that it was the Sky People who killed Tsu'Kal and use that as a rallying symbol, a modern day "remember the Alamo" so to speak. Worst-case scenario was that the other clans either wouldn't hear about it or wouldn't care, taking it as an isolated incident and no immediate threat to their clans. If that was the case, it would take and act of God, Eywa, or both to stir them to action. Davian met up with Sateyah shortly before the evening meal and he used their first private opportunity to inform her of what Jake had told him. Being the insightful type, the news and its implications distressed Sateyah as much as it did Davian.

She looked up to her mate as they ascended the spiral roots to attend the evening gathering, "You are certain the Sky People are planning something?"

"Positive." Davian turned to offer his hand to help her the rest of the way up, "As long as we're sitting on stuff they want, they're always going to come after us. The only question is what're they planning this time. I've got a bad feeling that they're abandoning the usual bull-in-a-china-shop approach and trying something more subtle." He took her hand as they joined everyone else at the evening meal, "I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

That was a notion that didn't sit well with Davian. He didn't like the idea of sitting back and waiting to see what knives their enemies had up their sleeves before doing something about it. Unfortunately, whether he liked it or not, there were no other options. All they could do at this point was wait.

**Resources Development Administration Military Compound "Virgil's Keep" (Sector 26)**

**0830 Hours, 4 April 2164**

Bryan Steele pried the exo-pack off his face as he stepped through the inner door of the airlock. He hung the mask on the belt of his military-issue BDUs as he set out at a steady pace toward the cargo area of the base. He cracked his neck briefly as he walked. The five years, three months, and fourteen days of cryo-sleep had left him a bit stiffer than he was used to. Steele was in prime condition for a man staring down the barrel of fifty, but being a marine will do that to you. Once you live that life for a while, it becomes adverse to your nature to just sit around getting fat. Unfortunately, age was the best thief in the galaxy, able to steal youthful vigor and strength over time. That aside, Bryan Steele was in better-than-average condition for what one would expect of an ex-marine field officer.

He walked into the cargo sorting area where all of the goods from the most recent wave of shuttles were being processed. As he walked in, a younger man in a marine uniform with high-and-tight blond hair noticed him and turned to walk over to him.

The young man offered his hand as he approached, "Welcome to Virgil's Keep, Mr. Steele. It's an honor to have you."

Steele shook the marine's hand firmly, "That's _Colonel_ Steele to you, kid. I've been reactivated."

The young marine offered a sharp salute, "My apologies, colonel." Steele returned the salute and the man motioned him further into the area, "If you'll follow me, sir, I'll show you to where your gear's being staged." Bryan followed the young man through a maze of cargo crates and carriers, narrowly dodging being run down by a dolly tram at least once, to where his things had been placed.

The marine gestured to Steele's gear as they approached it, "All of your equipment has been placed here as per your instructions, sir. We've got your weapons, your field gear, and your avatar."

The comment brought Steele's head up from the crate he was examining. His attention was drawn to the massive liquid-filled tank near his things containing a large, blue creature suspended within. The avatar was little more than a clone hybrid embryo when Steele started his journey out here five years ago. Now, it had grown over that time to the three-meter tall, blue-skinned creature that everyone recognized as an avatar. Steele walked over next to it and put his hand on the glass as he looked in. He couldn't help but snicker to himself when he saw the resemblance. It was kind of creepy looking at the spitting image of himself with blue tiger-striped skin and feline features.

Steele shook his head, "I still can't believe they sprang the price tag for one of these things for me."

The young marine shook his head, "They didn't just pay for the avatar, sir. You've got a full spread of gear for it, too." He stepped back and motioned to an additional crate with Steele's things, "Custom-built weapons, body armor, and equipment. Anything you need, you've got."

Steele nodded slowly as he listened. Between the avatar, the gear for it, and the costs of shipping him out here in the first place, this was turning into one _very_ pricey mission. The RDA was a corporation, and as such they wouldn't throw this much money at something unless they expected significant return on their investment. They were obviously quite serious about him pulling this off.

The young marine folded his hands behind his back, "So where would you like your things moved to, sir?"

Bryan shook his head, "I'll deal with that myself as soon as I get my hands on a Samson." He pointed at the tank next to him, "I want the avatar decanted and ready for transport in three hours. Keep all the rest of the gear where it is for offsite transport."

The marine furrowed his brow, "You're not staying at the base, sir?"

Steele shook his head again as he looked over an inventory checklist, "Learn a lesson from an old pro, kid: a smart operative never sets up his base-op on his employer's front porch. I've already got a nice little plot scoped out where I'm going to set up camp. Communications will be one-way, initiated from my end, and will stay that way until further notice. I don't like a lot of comm traffic. Is that clear?"

The young man nodded, "Absolutely, sir."

"Great." Bryan returned his nod as he set the computer board down, "Now, which way to the helipads?"

Steele spent a total of four hours moving all of his equipment out to the location he'd chosen. Once he'd appropriated a Samson gunship, he airlifted a prefab shelter, a field fuel tank, and an open-air prefab longhouse to house his avatar out to the site. His gear went with him on the first two trips, and the avatar came with him on the last one. Bryan finished setting up the last of a network of defense pylons and looked around. It was a cozy little home-away-from-home. The prefab had a nice place to sleep and work and held the link pod he'd be using. Unlike the standard pods, this one had been custom designed. It was air-tight with its own separate ventilation system in the event of a breach in one of the cabin walls while he was in link. The site was ringed by six devices the RDA called "defense pylons". Each one had an automated MBS-9M Hydra chain-gun and built-in sonic repulsor to keep the local fauna away.

Steele opened the inner door into the prefab and tossed his exo-pack on the desk on his way to the link pod. He briefly consulted the checklist for how to launch the link before activating the system and climbing in. He laid himself out flat on the gel padding and closed the network cage over himself as the unit's lid closed down over him, plunging him into darkness save for the eerie green glow around him. He looked up at the inside of the lid and closed his eyes. "Just let your mind go blank" as the tech back at the base told him.

A moment later, Steele blinked his eyes open to be looking up at the ceiling of the bunkhouse instead of the prefab. He levered himself up to a sitting position and looked at his hands. His skin was a shade of cerulean blue with darkened stripes going up and down his arms. Bryan neither understood nor cared about the science behind it, but he knew the RDA's reasons for giving him his own avatar were sound. He would be able to operate free of environmental restrictions, the local flora and fauna would be less hostile to him, and he could blend in with the indigenous if necessary. Steele had already gone through the rigors of the first link back at Virgil's Keep. He linked to the avatar and, rather than going through the sensory/motor tests the techs wanted him to, flipped the eggheads the bird before getting his avatar dressed and ready for transit. He wasn't a man much for formalities.

Steele stood up from the bed and immediately looked back over his shoulder. He pulled his neural queue around from behind to look at it and frowned. He didn't like that thing hanging back there. An opportunistic opponent could use it as an all-too convenient handhold. As much as he didn't like it, Bryan also knew that if he removed it, he would go blind and lose a few other senses, as well. He came to a compromise as he wrapped the queue around his neck a few times and secured it there to keep it out of the way.

The avatar operative walked over to the table where he'd laid his gear out and smirked. The RDA had sprung for a set of weapons custom-built for an avatar's size and physique. He had an assault rifle, a marksman rifle, a pair of pistols, and a combat knife. Since all of the weapons were twice the normal size, they were all designed for custom-made rounds that were twice the size of normal bullets. The assault rifle was chambered at 11.12mm instead of the normal 5.56, the pistols were chambered for 18mm rather than nine, and the marksman rifle was chambered for a monstrous 15.24x102mm round, twice the size of your standard 7.62. The rounds all seemed the right size now that Bryan was linked to his avatar, but it felt like handling cannon munitions as a human. He pulled the knife from its sheath and worked it around in one hand for a moment to gauge its weight and balance. It was a touch heavy in the blade, which would make throwing it a little awkward, but overall a good weapon. The melee weapon was about eighteen inches long with a ceramic blade that held a curved razor's edge. To top it all off, the avatar's jumpsuit was matte black with matching plates of ceramic body armor on the torso, shoulders, legs, and forearms. The color was linked to an optic camouflage system that would automatically change the color to a camo pattern that matched his environment.

Steele ran all the weapons through a rudimentary check before nodding in satisfaction. Looking at his weapon spread like this…it brought back a lot of old memories from the life he left behind so long ago. Most of them were memories he'd rather leave in the past where they were. It had been so many years. Bryan had sworn on his wife's grave that he'd never go back to this. Now, here he was again, about to take up the old mantle. And why? All for his son. Bryan wasn't here for money or glory. He was here because the RDA had a line on his son, Davian. All he had to do was take out his target, and they'd put him in touch with Davian for the first time in more than ten years. Bryan had thought himself impervious to the offers of fame and fortune the RDA could throw at him, but this just goes to show that a father will do some pretty crazy things for his children.

Steele's brow hardened as he nodded to himself, "The music plays; time to dance."

**Perimeter of **_**Kelutral **_**Omaticaya (Sector 15)**

**2142 Hours, 4 April 2164**

Bryan peered over the log he was using as cover. He'd never seen a tree as big as one of these "Hometree" things. They were bigger than even a redwood from Earth by several times. The locals, the Na'vi, lived in or around these massive trees all across the planet. This one in particular housed a clan of Na'vi who called themselves the Omaticaya. Bryan's target was one of them.

"Scan." He spoke aloud to no one in particular. Bryan's headset responded to the verbal command as the eyepiece deployed over his left eye and the scanner on his shoulder activated to scan the area he was looking at. The eye HUD highlighted the largest concentrations of Na'vi both within and around the enormous tree. Bryan carefully took his sniper rifle from his back and set it up on the log. He tested the wind briefly before doping the scope and looking through. He slowly panned the crosshairs across the largest cluster of Na'vi. He knew his target was going to be here; it was just a matter of waiting. "The patient hunter gets his prey" as the old saying goes, and Steele hadn't made a name for himself as the best in the business by being rash and jumpy.

Steele's waiting finally paid off when one particular Na'vi came into view at the base of the tree's roots, his HUD identifying him as the Omaticaya's clan leader. Bryan closed his free eye as he sighted through the scope. The name from the target dossier rang in his mind as he tracked him. Jake Sully; former marine; former avatar driver; former human; now the leader of a bunch of fly-bitten savages. It sounded like this Sully guy was little more than a has-been. He betrayed his own race to get where he was, and now Steele had the pleasure of dealing with him once and for all. Bryan's trigger finger twitched slightly as he zoomed in and put the crosshairs on Sully's forehead. At this range, the bullet would hit just below the base of the skull, exit above the right shoulder. If initial penetration didn't kill him outright, then he'd bleed out in minutes. This was it! Squeeze that trigger, and the RDA would put Bryan in touch with his son. He exhaled slowly to steady his aim as his trigger finger started to tighten.

The trigger squeeze was stopped when another Na'vi came into scope and spoke to Sully, inaudible at this distance. Bryan's other eye popped open and both eyes widened. That Na'vi looked a lot like…no, it couldn't be. He looked through the scope again, keeping the trigger tight for when he would take the shot. He sighted Sully again in the same place, but that second local who was talking to him was getting in the way. The Na'vi finally looked in Steele's direction, revealing an all too familiar face. Bryan's golden eyes widened again, and he finally released the trigger.

"Davian?" Steele raised his head from the rifle scope. He didn't need his HUD scanner to confirm his own son's identity. That second Na'vi talking to Sully…he looked like…he had to be Davian. But…it couldn't be. Selfridge told him his son was a researcher with the Augustine Xenological Research Foundation. Bryan's brow hardened with resolve. Something wasn't right here. Either someone's info was faulty, or he'd been lied to. Steele stowed his rifle on his back as he disappeared into the brush. He had to know. He had to know what was going down here.

_**Kelutral**_** Omaticaya (Sector 15)**

**2201 Hours, 4 April 2164**

Davian and Sateyah walked hand-in-hand back to where they lived in the tree from the evening meal. Sateyah leaned over and kissed her mate on the cheek, giving him a beautiful smile when he looked at her curiously. Davian returned her smile and put his arm around her shoulders to hold her closer as they walked. He looked around and took a deep breath of the fresh air, chuckling quietly to himself as he did. A few years ago, he'd have been gagging and gasping if he'd taken a deep breath on this planet. Now, it was the sweetest smell in the world to him. It was the smell of belonging; the smell of home.

He kissed his mate's cheek before looking at her, "I'm going to go out and get some air, Sateyah. I'll be back in a minute." He slid his arm off her shoulders as he headed out from under the roots into open air. Davian stopped about a dozen paces from the outer ring of roots, far enough for the light from within not to reach him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the fresh night air through his nose. This was home.

"I didn't want to believe it was you."

In an instant, Davian whirled around while drawing his knife from his chest, taking a fighting stance in the direction the voice came from. When he turned, he found an avatar dressed in a black jumpsuit with matching body armor and carrying half an armory's worth of weapons in the form of two pistols on his thighs and a rifle across his back. Even stranger, he could've sworn by Eywa that he knew this avatar's face.

Davian furrowed his brow, keeping his knife in his hand, "Who are you? How'd you get here?"

He shrugged casually, "I have my ways. I wouldn't blame you for not recognizing me after all these years."

Davian lowered his knife as he narrowed his eyes to look the stranger over better. After a moment of examining him, his eyes widened. He _did_ recognize this avatar, just not as an avatar!

His ears perked up, "Dad?"

"So you _do_ remember me." Bryan Steele stepped forward out of the shadows and nodded, "Flattering."

"Dad, it…I…you have…?" Davian sputtered over his own voice for a long moment. It'd been years since he'd seen his father, since shortly before he'd joined the marines.

"Dad." He finally regained his wits again as he sheathed his knife, "I don't mean to sound like I'm not happy to see you, but what're you doing here?"

Steele nodded to his son, "I could ask the same about you. Where're you linking out of?"

Davian glanced down at himself, "I'm…I'm not in link, dad. This is the real me now."

Bryan arched a curious eyebrow, "Care to explain that, son? Last I checked, both of your parents were human."

"Well, it's a long story."

Bryan shrugged, "Summarize."

"Okay." Davian took a breath before continuing, "I came here a few years ago to study the Na'vi. I wound up getting adopted into the clan just before helping them defend their planet from some greedy corporate types. I was nearly killed in the process and the Na'vi saved me by permanently transferring my consciousness to my avatar. And here I am."

Steele just stared blankly for a moment before nodding, "I'm betting there's a _lot_ to read between the lines there."

"It's either that, or the long version." Davian gestured to his father, "So, now that we've established how I got here, what about you?"

Bryan's expression went from blank to deathly serious, "You don't want the answer to that question, son."

Davian shrugged, "I asked it, didn't I?"

Steele's gaze fell as he breathed a deep and burdened sigh. It was all bound to come out sooner or later. He'd dodged it this long. Now it was time to quit putting off the inevitable and face the consequences.

He met his son's gaze, "How much do you remember about me when you were growing up?"

Davian shrugged curiously, "You were my dad. You loved mom. You were a marine. Nothing out of the ordinary."

Bryan nodded somberly, "You saw a father who loved his wife and son; who was a marine who was deployed for two months for every one he spent at home. That's just the story you were supposed to believe. There was a lot more to your old man than that."

Davian took a step closer, "What do you mean?"

"There was a side of your father that you never saw, Davian; a side I never wanted you to see." Steele started pacing as he continued, "There's a lot that happens on a battlefield, and a lot of it happens behind the scenes. I was one of the guys who worked in the background, making life easier for the grunts on the front line. Strategic elimination of high-value enemy personnel, and I was the best there was at it."

"Strategic elimination?" Davian's brow furrowed as he pieced it together, "You were an assassin?"

Bryan nodded grimly, "The term we used was 'special operative', but it's the same thing. I was one of the guys the brass called to put down an enemy leader. Every time I deployed, I wasn't going out to save lives. I was going out to end them." He took a deep breath, "But, then things changed. I quit that life a long time ago only to be dragged back in now."

Davian nodded somberly, "And that's why you're on Pandora. You're here to take somebody out, aren't you?" Bryan's grim nod was telling enough.

"Who's your target?"

Steele was quiet for a long moment before answering, "Maybe you've heard of Jake Sully."

Davian's golden eyes widened, "Jake? He's your target?"

"Not anymore." Bryan shook his head, "Not now that I know he's with you. RDA's got some explaining to do."

Davian's brow furrowed again, "The RDA hired you?"

Bryan nodded in return, "They promised that if I took out Jake Sully, they'd put me in contact with you. But it's obvious that their deal wasn't on the level. I've got to think long and hard about my next move." He glanced around briefly, "I've got to get back to my compound, son. It'd probably be better if you didn't tell anyone about this little meeting. Okay?"

"Davyan?"

Before he could answer, Davian turned around to find Sateyah approaching him.

She looked around quizzically, "Who are you talking to?"

"I was talking to…" Davian turned around again to find no one there. His father had vanished just as quickly as he'd appeared.

"…no one. I was just thinking out loud."

Sateyah walked up to him and took his hands in hers, concern radiating in her eyes, "Is everything all right, Davyan?"

Davian leaned his forehead against hers and breathed a burdened sigh, "I don't know, Sateyah. I just don't know anymore." The couple stayed there for a moment longer before turning to go into the tree for the night.

**Operative Field Compound (Sector 13)**

**0042 Hours, 5 April 2164**

Bryan's link pod opened and he hopped out as he ran his hands back through his thick brown hair in frustration. This was insane! Selfridge had told him that Davian was a researcher for the Foundation and that he wasn't involved in this situation. Selfridge had access to military-grade intelligence. It was highly unlikely that his info was faulty. Bryan sat down heavily at his desk and called up Sully's target dossier on his screen again. He nodded subtly to himself as he reviewed the document. He hadn't seen it before, but he was now noticing a number of telltale signs that the file had been edited. The dossier made Jake Sully sound like an eco-terrorist turned Na'vi leader, but information in the file had been altered, vital details changed or removed. There was a lot more to Sully than just what this cut-and-paste dossier had. Steele frowned as he sat back in his seat and rubbed his chin. The RDA was trying to manipulate him. They had a bigger hand to play than they were letting on. Bryan nodded firmly to himself as he stood and headed for his bunk for the night. Something fishy was going on here, and he was determined to find out what it was and what part Selfridge intended for him to play in it.


	3. Chapter 2

2

_**Kelutral**_** Omaticaya (Sector 15)**

**0700 Hours, 5 April 2164**

The next few days went by slowly for Davian, but he didn't mind having the time to think about all that had happened recently. First, Jake informs him of the assassination of a prominent Na'vi clan leader, then his father who he hadn't seen or spoken to for over ten years just appears out of nowhere. As the icing on this stressful little cake, Davian's father reveals that he was an assassin while he was growing up. Obviously, it was a lot to take in so suddenly.

The plot began to thicken even further about three days after Davian's meeting with his father, less than a week after getting the news of Tsu'Kal's death. Davian and Sateyah attended the evening meal as they did every night, but Davian noticed something amiss when Jake was nowhere to be found. Neytiri was there, and Mo'at was there, but no Jake. Jake was the clan's leader, the visible symbol to the people of their strength and prominence. He wouldn't have skipped out on a public gathering like this unless it was for a good reason. Davian finally found the elusive _olo'eyktan_ on a branch one or two levels above everyone else. He was just sitting there, staring off in no particular direction, his tail swishing back and forth in a rather agitated manner. Davian furrowed his brow as he set his food down and stood. He didn't like what he was seeing here. He made his way through the group to where Neytiri was sitting with her mother.

The junior _tsahík_ noticed him as he approached and nodded respectfully, "{I See you, Davyan.}"

"{I See you, Neytiri.}" The clan second squatted down next to her and reverted to English to keep the conversation private, "What's up with Jake? He seems awfully solitary tonight. Is he all right?"

Neytiri's response gave Davian even more cause for concern. Her smile vanished and her ears turned back, showing clearly that something was wrong.

She shook her head, "Jake is very troubled, Davyan. You should go speak with him. I think it is important."

Davian looked up to where Jake sat and nodded firmly, "I think I'll do that. Thanks." He stood and made his way out of the group of people before clambering up the branch to where Jake was. When he got up to the branch, Jake acknowledged Davian's presence by simply glancing back at him before going back to staring into space.

Davian approached and stooped down behind him, "You all right, Jake? You don't normally skip out on public meetings."

Jake stared for a moment longer before shaking his head slowly, "No. I'm not all right." He stood abruptly, "Come with me. I need to talk to you." He jumped from the branch to a platform below.

"That bad, huh?" Davian followed suit as his boss led him out of earshot from everyone else.

The _olo'eyktan_ turned around and folded his arms over his chest, "Davian, I've just gotten word that three more clan leaders have been assassinated."

Davian's golden eyes widened, "Three more?"

Jake nodded grimly as he leaned against a column behind him, "It looks like Tsu'Kal was just the tip of the iceberg. The affected clans are all spooked pretty bad. The rest are going into lock down. Other clan leaders are wondering who's going to be next."

Davian nodded to him, "I'll bet you're one of them."

"It's crossed my mind." Jake looked Davian in the eye, "I need you to start investigating this for me, Davian. I'm running down my own leads, but it's taking too long, and this is obviously a threat. We need to figure out what's going on here. Can I count on you?"

"Of course you can." Davian's eyes narrowed when something, or more someone, came to mind, "In fact, I think I already have a lead I can run down."

**Operative Field Compound (Sector 13)**

**0133 Hours, 9 April 2164**

Bryan Steele lay sleeping in his bunk in his compound prefab shelter. In spite of everything on his mind at present, he was sleeping soundly enough. When your daily routine used to consist of being the one of the most efficient killers in the world, you eventually learn how to sleep well even with a heavy conscience. This was the first time in fifteen years Bryan had had a restless night. Considering it was also the first time in over a decade he'd spoken to his son, it was understandable.

A pounding sound from the next room roused Steele from his slumber rather suddenly. He sat up quickly, pulling the handgun from the holster next to his bunk in the same motion, a lingering habit from his days as an operative. He looked around the room and found nothing, but the pounding sound came again. Bryan slipped out of his bunk and held his gun ready as he cautiously went to the next room to find the source of the noise. When he pushed the door open, what he found surprised him to say the least. Outside was none other than his son, Davian, beating on the window to get his attention. Davian pointed at his father through the window and mouthed the words "you", "out here", and "now". Bryan nodded and held up a hand to tell him to wait as he went to his link unit. He tossed his gun on the table before starting it up and climbing in. Thoughts raced through Bryan's head as the lid closed over him. What was Davian doing here? Why did he seem so agitated? How he'd slipped by the defense pylons undetected was a mystery-and-a-half all by itself. He held onto the questions so he could ask them as he closed his eyes in the pod's green-lit darkness.

Bryan's avatar blinked his eyes open and sat up on the bed in the open-air longhouse attached to the prefab. Before he could even stand up, Davian came storming in through the door in a fury.

He stopped about a meter from his father's avatar and pointed at him accusingly, "Is there anything else you're hiding from me?"

Steele furrowed his brow and shook his head, "What're you talking about, son?"

"Don't play dumb with me, dad." Davian's response almost cut him off, "I know why you're here. How many other Na'vi have you taken out since you came here?"

Bryan shrugged, "Son, I might be able to help you if I had a clue of what you were talking about."

Davian stepped back and folded his arms, "Four prominent Na'vi clan leaders have been assassinated in the last week. You wouldn't have had anything to do with that, would you?"

"I never heard about that." Bryan's eyes narrowed as he pieced it together, "You think I killed them?"

His son shrugged, "Maybe. That's what assassins do, after all."

Bryan shook his head, "I didn't have anything to do with this, Davian. The RDA only gave me one target. One target that I already told you I'm not going to take out."

Davian huffed skeptically, "Funny. Why am I having a hard time believing that?"

Bryan shook his head again, "Son, I didn't do it. You have to believe me."

"Believe you?" Davian gave a flustered fling of his arms, "You just show up out of nowhere after ten years and tell me everything I knew about you was all a lie. Then, in the same breath, you ask me to believe you?"

Bryan waved down his son's agitation, "I can understand if you have a hard time trusting me right now, Davy. But please believe me when I say that I had nothing to do with this." Davian huffed loudly and ran his hand back over his mohawk as he paced anxiously back and forth for several moments.

Bryan shook his head firmly, "What do I have to do?"

Davian stopped pacing and looked at his father, "Say what?"

"I obviously have to earn your trust again. Tell me what I have to do, and I'll do it."

The former human shook his head as he resumed his pacing, "I'm not going to do that to you, dad. I was in that position a few years ago, and it nearly got me killed." He stopped pacing and turned to face his father again, "I want to believe you, dad. I really do. I just don't know what to think right now. Everything's happening so fast, and we're all getting caught up in the dust cloud it's raising."

Bryan's brow hardened subtly, as did his resolve. Seeing his son, not the same body but the same spirit that was his son, so worried and flustered over the situation these Na'vi were in. Any normal human wouldn't bat an eyelash about the troubles of a bunch of oversized primitives. But seeing his son, knowing that he was one of these "primitives", put a whole new perspective on it for Bryan. It was a perspective that gave him insight as to what to do next clearer than any he'd had before in his life.

He nodded slowly, "I guess I already know what I have to do, then."

The comment brought Davian's head up, "What do you mean?"

"I'm going to find whoever's killing your clan leaders and stop them."

"You're kidding, right?" Davian stepped back and chuckled lightly, "You think you can find whoever's doing this and stop them by yourself?"

Bryan shrugged casually, "I'm the best there is at this game, Davy. It wouldn't be a first for me."

Davian was quiet for a long moment before finally heaving a deep sigh, "Okay. If you think that's what you need to do, then go for it. Just be careful, all right?" He glanced back toward the jungle, "I've got to get back to Hometree before my clan notices I'm gone." He turned to head out the door.

"Davy." He turned around at his father call his name.

Bryan's eyes flitted to the ground before he spoke, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Davian furrowed his brow, "For what?"

Steele was quiet for a moment before pulling his legs back up onto the bed and laying back, "For everything."

"Everything? What do you mean?" Davian walked over and shook the avatar's shoulder, "Dad?" The lack of response was telling enough. He'd broken link with the avatar, and the chances of getting him to come out a second time were slim. Davian looked at the comatose avatar and shook his head. His own father was turning out to be more mysterious than Pandora itself. Unfortunately, there wasn't anymore he could do tonight to unravel those mysteries. All he could do now was wait. Watch and wait for how these events would soon unfold.

**Perimeter of **_**Kelutral**_** Iteywa (Sector 09)**

**0811 Hours, 9 April 2164**

Bryan Steele's avatar lurked in the brush on the perimeter of the nearby Na'vi Hometree. He'd carefully calculated that this clan's leader was the next likely target. He overlaid the dead clan leaders' locations on a map, compared them to where other clans were, and ran some numbers as to which one would be the next target. Throw in a dash of gut instinct based on experience, and this was the best place to go. It was a calculated risk, but one Bryan had a good feeling was going to pay off.

"Scan. All wavelengths." His headset complied with the verbal command as his scanner started going through differing wavelengths of light all the way from ultraviolet to infrared. The monocle that unfolded over his left eye displayed the results for him. His patience paid off when the scan detected an infrared anomaly a few hundred meters ahead. It was a needle-thin beam of infrared light pointing at the Hometree from somewhere in the surrounding forest.

"A sniper's spotting laser." Bryan's eyes narrowed, "Trace." His eyepiece display isolated the laser beam and traced it to its source about three hundred meters ahead. Bryan moved several dozen meters to his left to get a clear line on the source. When it came into view, it was just what he expected; a sniper taking aim on someone in the tree. Bryan pulled his marksman rifle from his back before lying down prone and deploying the weapon's bipod. He doped the scope before looking through, focusing in on a glint of light off an exo-pack mask. The sniper was training on his target, giving Steele only a few seconds before he takes his shot. Bryan lined up on him, putting the first mil dot down over his head. At this range, it would be a clean headshot. Bryan exhaled slowly and firmly squeezed the trigger, smiling to himself when he did. The familiar feelings of the rifle's recoil and the thundering report brought back a lot of memories in an instant. Through the scope, a large bullet hole opened through the sniper's head, knocking him back against the tree behind him, dead as a doornail.

The avatar looked up from the scope and smiled, "Lights out, punk."

Suddenly, the brush around him started pocking with bullet strikes. In a heartbeat, Bryan collapsed the rifle's bipod and rolled to his right behind a rock. He looked around his cover and cursed under his breath. That sniper was part of a team, and now his team wanted revenge. Bryan pulled back as another burst of rounds ricocheted off the rock. He was going to have to take these guys out, too.

He looked around the rock and nodded, "You boys want to dance? Let's dance." He turned and disappeared into the jungle.

Further away, the human mercenaries who'd just lost their marksman were firing their assault rifles in the direction the shot came from. Most of them stopped when the target went into the jungle, except one.

The team leader stormed up and slapped the rookie's rifle down, "Cut that out! You're wasting ammo." He readjusted his mask and looked around at his team, "All right, guys. That punk just took out Mike, which means we need to return the favor. Butch, move up the right. Satlow, you and Durke take left. I'll move up the middle. Let's hit it." The team dispersed as they spread out to move across the area and find their target.

Butch pushed up through his assigned area, keeping his eyes and wits sharp. He scanned the area with his rifle before moving on to keep pace with the team. He pushed forward for a minute before stopping and looking around. The jungle had suddenly become eerily quiet. A stirring of bushes behind him caused the mercenary to put his rifle to his shoulder as he whipped around. The noise came again from another place, and Butch turned again to train his rifle on it. It came again, closer this time, and he braced himself for what it was. Suddenly, a hexapede burst through the foliage and bounded across the path, disappearing as fast as it showed up. Butch lowered his rifle and huffed, shaking his head at how jumpy he was feeling. It was then that a pair of big, blue hands reached down from the tree branch above him, grabbed his head, and twisted to snap his neck with a sickening crack. Butch's body fell in a heap in the undergrowth, having never seen what hit him.

Bryan hung his head down from the tree and nodded to himself, "Two down; three to go." He pulled himself back up into the tree.

The two mercenaries moving up the left, Durke and Satlow, pushed through the undergrowth as they searched. Durke, the team rookie, was getting nervous about the whole thing.

"Who was that guy, man?" He looked at his partner, "And why is he coming after us?"

Satlow shook his head, "Who cares. We need to find him and kill him. Now keep you mouth shut and your eyes on the jungle." The pair remained silent as they moved further before Durke's rookie mouth got the better of him.

He looked at Satlow and shook his head, "He looked like one of the locals. Since when do the Na'vi use guns?"

"They don't, dipstick! Now shut up and pay attention." Satlow huffed as he turned away from Durke, "I swear, you're going to be the death of me, rookie."

The team leader's voice came over the comm channel, "_Satlow, this is Daniels. You got anything?_"

The mercenary put his hand to his ear and shook his head, "Satlow here. We got nothing."

"_Stay sharp. I just lost contact with Butch. I'm going to check it out._"

He nodded, "I copy. Satlow out."

Durke's eyes widened behind his mask, "He took out Butch?"

The older mercenary shook his head, "We don't know that. He could just be having comm trouble. This humidity plays havoc on electronics." He motioned him on, "Quit your whining and let's move." The pair was quiet as they pushed further into the jungle. Several long moments passed as they searched for this elusive opponent. After shooing away a clutch of fan lizards, Satlow decided to check in again.

He put his hand to his ear, "Daniels, this is Satlow. We still got nothing. You copy?"

The response was both unusual and unnerving. Instead of one of Daniels' usual sharply snapped comments, there was only silence over the channel.

Satlow waited a moment before trying again, "Daniels, this is Satlow. Do you copy?" Again, nothing but silence responded.

"Satlow to Daniels. Are you receiving?" The mercenary frowned. Daniels should've said something by now.

He shook his head, "This ain't funny, Daniels. Respond immediately."

Finally a response came, but not who Satlow was expecting, "_You're buddy Daniels can't come to the phone right now._" The voice was low and malevolent over the comm.

Satlow furrowed his brow, "Who is this?"

"_Your worst nightmare._" There was a burst of static and a beep over the channel, indicating that the receiving unit had been destroyed.

"He got Daniels, too?" Durke's face blanched, "Man, something ain't right here. I say we cut out and break for the RV point."

Satlow nodded, "For once, I'm not disagreeing with you, rookie. Let's move." The two broke into a dead run into the jungle to get away from the area. With most of their team gone, they had good right to be scared.

"Man, this sucks." Durke shook his head as they ran, "The RDA's paying us to pop clan leaders, not hunt some super-Na'vi."

Satlow nodded once, "We'll sort out the paychecks later. Right now, just keep–" He never finished his thought as the crack of a rifle heralded a gaping bullet hole opening through his neck. Satlow fell in a heap on the jungle floor, dead before he even hit the ground.

"Son of a…!" Durke jumped back from the body. He glanced around briefly before taking off at full sprint in a random direction, "You're not getting me. You're not getting me!" He ran through the brush repeating those words to himself until he came to a small clearing.

"You're not getting…Oh, no!" Durke's shoulders sank in despair as the large, black predator before him snarled at his presence, its lips curling back and baring huge carnivore teeth. In his panic, he'd run straight into a thanator den.

"Oh, crap! NO!" He fell back as the thanator leaped on him.

Bryan stood at the base of a tree several dozen meters away. He nodded to himself as snarls of a thanator and the pained screams of the last mercenary chorused through the jungle. He looked out toward the Hometree nearby. The locals would be spooked by all the gunfire, but their clan leader was safe for now. Bryan looked down at the uniform patch and the datapad he'd taken from mercenaries' leader. The patch wasn't an RDA Security Force emblem, meaning these guys were a freelance hit squad. That alone led to a number of conclusions. The datapad, on the other hand, was RDA-issue, and had information on it about the RDA's plans for this planet. It was information that Bryan planned to pick through as soon as he could.

Bryan nodded confidently as he turned to head back to his compound, "Steele, four. Pandora, one. Mercs, zero. That's a score I can live with."

_**Kelutral**_** Omaticaya (Sector 15)**

**2342 Hours, 9 April 2164**

Davian sat on the sleeping mat, his knees curled up under his chin with his arms folded across them. He stared blankly out at the illuminated darkness of the jungle and sighed quietly. Everything was moving too fast. First, a prominent clan leader gets mysteriously murdered, then his father shows up out of nowhere, and then more clan leaders die before they even had a chance to figure out who killed the first one. Now, Jake was pressuring him for results before the next clan leader gets killed and his father was going off on a self-appointed quest for redemption. At this point, Davian had pretty much given up on what to think about it all.

"Davyan, are you all right?" Sateyah sat up next to him, blinking the sleep out of her eyes.

Davian shook his head slowly without looking at her, "I can't sleep. Everything's happening so fast, Sateyah. I don't know what to make of it all."

Sateyah rested her hands on her mate's shoulders, "You should rest, Davyan. It will help."

The former scientist shrugged, "I wish I could." Just as he finished speaking, a bright red light flickered in his eye, causing him to blink rapidly. It looked like a spotting laser, the kind used on marksman and sniping weapons. The laser flickered for a brief moment longer before disappearing. Davian's eyes widened when he realized what it was.

He shifted his knees underneath himself, "I'm going to go for a walk, Sateyah; clear my head a little. I'll be back in a minute."

His mate touched his hand, "Do you want me to come with you?"

Davian shook his head, "No. I'll just be a minute. You go back to sleep. Okay?" He leaned forward and kissed her forehead, "I love you." With that, he stood up to descend the tree from their platform while Sateyah laid back down to go back to sleep. Davian descended the tree and headed further out toward the edge of the jungle. The night lookouts wouldn't be able to see this far out into the darkness. He went a little further before coming around a tree, where he found the source of the signal he'd received. His father, or at least his avatar, stood leaning against a large root, twirling a knife around in his hand as he waited.

Bryan looked up and nodded to his son, "I was wondering if you'd gotten my signal."

Davian nodded in return, "I hope this is quick. I was spending some time with my mate when you signaled."

"Mate?" Bryan's head jerked back in a startled motion, "You mean…you're married?"

The former human shrugged, "Well, 'mated' in our culture, but it's the same thing."

Steele smiled as he shook his head slowly, "Wow. My little Davy all grown up with a family of his own. Any kids?"

Davian shook his head, "No, and unfortunately, it doesn't look like there will be any. Avatars are hybrids, remember."

Bryan nodded once, "Oh, yeah. Hybrid/chimera sterility." Nine and a half times out of ten, lab-grown hybrid creatures were incapable of reproduction, and avatars fell under that category. The Avatar Program was the RDA's project initially, and since there was no point in trying to breed the avatars, they didn't see a need to fund any research to correct the problem. It was the same reason why Jake and Neytiri had been mated for nearly ten years now and still didn't have any children of their own.

Steele shifted his weight to his other foot, "So, no grandkids, huh?"

His son shrugged, "Not unless we find a way around it."

"Well, start looking, son. I want to be holding a little blue grandbaby a few years from now."

Davian laughed at the comment before getting to business, "So what did you call me for?" Bryan responded by pulling a piece of cloth from his belt and tossing it to him.

The former scientist looked at it for a moment before shaking his head, "This doesn't look like an RDA patch."

"That's because it isn't." Bryan stood up and sheathed his knife, "They were freelance mercs. The RDA is shelling out some serious coin to pull this little scheme off." He produced the datapad he'd taken, "They're planning to assassinate a bunch of your clan leaders to set an example, then demand that the Na'vi to move onto small reservations if they want the killings to stop. Once that's done, they lock down the reservations like concentration camps and start strip-mining the planet."

Davian's eyes widened as he looked at the datapad, "Sneaky. You've got to give them credit for effectiveness, if nothing else." He handed it back to his father, "So, did you get them all?"

Bryan shook his head as he pocketed the device, "I've only gotten one team so far, and they were rank amateurs. They've got more out there. This is just getting started."

Davian nodded, "So…you really are helping us, then."

Steele shrugged, "I said I would, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did…it's just…" Davian trailed off and bit his lip thoughtfully.

Bryan shook his head as he readjusted the rifle on his back, "You didn't think I'd actually come through on that promise. Did you?" He didn't let his son respond as he walked up to him and put his hand on his shoulder, "I don't blame you for not trusting me, son. I haven't given you any reason to. I just hope that my actions speak louder than my words." Bryan gave Davian's shoulder a squeeze before turning to head into the jungle.

"Dad."

Steele stopped and turned around at hearing his son call for him.

Davian shuffled nervously for a moment, "When we first talked, you said that you quit being an assassin because 'things changed'. I want to know…what changed?"

Bryan's gaze broke from his son's and he breathed a deep sigh before answering.

"I did." He shook his head, "When your mother died, it woke me up. Showed me that I had more to offer this world than just killing people. And it pointed me to you."

Davian furrowed his brow, "Me? What do you mean?"

Bryan's mouth formed a thin line during the time between question and answer, "I've taken a lot of bad things out of this world, Davy." He finally looked at Davian, "You were the only good thing I ever helped bring into it."

The comment caused Davian's eyes to widen. He knew that his father loved him, but he'd never seen just how much he meant to him until now. He realized that, to his father, he was everything. Davian was Bryan's life, the one good thing he had to hold onto amid a life of wickedness.

He continued, "I realized that I'd been letting your life pass me by. I spent the best years of my life playing 'Who's the Better Killer' instead of watching my own son grow up like a real father should have. After your mother died, I only had a few short years with you before you enlisted and went off to college." Bryan hung his head, "I'd give anything to have those years back so I could do over again the right way."

Davian walked up to his father and put his hand on his shoulder, "Don't blame yourself, dad."

"If I don't, then who will?" Bryan brushed Davian's hand off, "No one chose this path for me, Davian. _I_ chose this path. _I_ walked it. Now, _I'm_ reaping the consequences for it. The only person to blame here is me." He waved his hand at his son, "Look back at your life, Davy. You didn't get your hands dirty in the marines, you became a scientist, you helped these locals defend their world, and now you have a good home with people who love and respect you. You have every reason to be proud of yourself. What do I have to look back at? A life spent as a killer-for-hire, a wife who died while her husband was away from home, and a son who barely knows his own father. Maybe I missed something, but I don't think that gives me many reasons to be proud of what I've done." He huffed once before glancing into the darkly-lit jungle, "I've got to get back to my compound, son. I'll report in after I've taken out the next team." Without waiting for a response, Bryan turned and walked into the forest, disappearing into the darkness. Davian stared after his father for a long time before turning to head back into the tree. He was starting to see just how much his father regretted the choices he'd made. Being gone from home so much, missing out on his son's life, even just his occupation in general, they were all things that he regretted deeply. Davian admired the fact that his father was willing to stand up and face the consequences of his choices, but he could do without all the self-flagellation. He went back into Hometree that night, a few steps closer to peeling back the layers of the man who was his father.


	4. Chapter 3

3

**Perimeter of **_**Kelutral**_** Awveunil (Sector 12)**

**0811 Hours, 10 April 2164**

Bryan peered over the log concealing his position, his eyepiece scanning the area as he did. He'd been waiting here for over an hour now and there was still no sign of any assassin team. He was beginning to wonder if his estimates of the next clan to get hit were wrong. The only thing keeping him here was his instincts saying he should wait a little longer. His instincts proved to be right when he noticed two faint thermal anomalies in the jungle that looked like people. After wishing that his instincts would shut up every now and then, Bryan pulled his rifle from his back and propped it up on the log, sighting in on the closest one. He noticed in his monocle that there was an active comm frequency and a familiar sinister smile curled across his lips.

"Hack signal." His headset complied with the command as a burst of static came over his earpiece before clearing up into voices.

"_Have you located the target yet?_"

"_Yeah. I think he's the one with the fancy headdress._"

"_All right. I'm sighting him now. What's my windage?_"

Bryan's brow furrowed. If the comm traffic was any indication, there was only two of them. That was an awfully small team for a job like this. Experience said that a small team meant a good team. This would be interesting.

"_You've got clear air with a northeast wind at six kph. You shouldn't have any trouble. Just remember to compensate for atmosphere density._"

"_Got it. Give me thirty seconds and it's another clan leader in the bag._"

That meant thirty seconds for Steele to find and eliminate the shooter. Not much time, but he worked well under pressure. All he had to work with was a pair of thermal signatures, so his aim was going to be glorified guesswork since he didn't have a direct visual. He pulled the bolt on his rifle to eject the bullet and manually loaded an armor-piercing round into the chamber, throwing the bolt closed behind it. He was going to have to take the shot through the jungle foliage, and he wanted a bullet with a greater penetration factor for the job. He took aim on the closer of the two signatures, the one that looked like it was crouched in a sniping position. He sighted where his head should be, compensated for foliage density, and exhaled slowly before squeezing the trigger. The rifle's thunder heralded the discarding-sabot round leaving the barrel at a muzzle velocity in excess of Mach 2. It ripped through the leaves in its path before striking the target exactly where Bryan wanted it to. The thermal signature jerked and fell over when the bullet hit, screwing up the sniper's aim and firing the shot into the air as the body fell. The other signature looked at his fallen comrade briefly before ducking into the brush and out of sight. Bryan's brow hardened. It was going to turn into a game now; a game of cat and mouse, and the cat could easily turn into the mouse in half a heartbeat. He picked up his rifle and stood to go find a new position to search for his target from.

"_Bravo Two to unidentified intruder. Withdraw now, and I'll consider not lynching for killing my brother._"

Bryan's brow rose when he heard the comm broadcast. A brother/brother team; he'd only taken on two teams like this in his career. He shrugged it off, figuring there was a third time for everything.

Steele opened his comm, "Nightmare to Bravo Two. You're way out of your league, kid. Save me the trouble and shoot yourself now." He reflexively ducked down at hearing a rifle shot, and a bullet struck the tree next to him where his head had just been.

"_Not if I shoot you first. My brother could hollow out a dime at five hundred meters, and I'm just as good. You're going down, Nightmare._"

Bryan snickered to himself, "All right, kid. You want to dance? Let's dance." With that, he cut the comm channel and started the game. He had a few things going for him in this sniper duel, a huge collection of experience being at the top of the list. This kid definitely knew what he was doing, but he didn't know who he was messing with. As the old saying goes "Mess with the best, die like the rest".

The avatar operative pushed further along the trail before cresting a large tree root, giving him a commanding view of the surrounding jungle. He crouched down and rested his arm on his knee, cradling his rifle in the crook of his elbow for a proper sniper's "turret" crouch. He slowly panned across the jungle through his scope, looking for the signs of a person moving through the brush. As Bryan scanned the forest, he suddenly noticed a glint of light, like the sun reflecting off glass. A dusty old brain cell woke up when he recognized the pattern of the glint. He immediately rolled himself backward off the root, landing in a crouch in the brush below as two rifle reports sounded, two bullets sailing through the air where he'd just been. The glint he'd seen was the sun reflecting off the outer lens of a sniper scope. It gave him early warning that he was being aimed at again, but Steele smiled to himself at the second bit of info it had given him. It meant that Bravo Two wasn't concealing his lens properly, giving Bryan a tattletale sign to look for. He chambered a fresh round in his rifle as he set a plan into motion.

The game of deadly hide-and-seek continued as Steele found an outcropped ridge of rock for a good position. In all reality, the rock outcropping wasn't the best place to make his stand, but that was all part of the plan. Steele wanted to be found. He was the bait for his own trap. He climbed up the rock to a good place, noticing that the avatar's tail modified his sense of balance in ways he wasn't used to. Bryan made a mental note to set up an obstacle course for practice with his avatar back at his compound as he deployed the bipod on his rifle. He looked through and started slowly scanning the jungle again. The trap was set and the bait was in place. All he needed now was the prey.

Bryan's patience paid off again when he noticed some movement in the underbrush about two hundred meters away. It wasn't wind or animals, which left only one other conclusion. Steele steadied himself as he tracked the movement, waiting for that tattletale he was looking for. He angled his rifle about ten degrees to the left to make it look like he was aiming in the wrong place. The whole point of this trap was to make Bravo Two think he had the drop on him, then prove him dead wrong. The movement in the brush stopped for about thirty seconds before that telltale glint started shining again. That was exactly what Steele had been waiting for. He trained his rifle on the glint and turned on his spotting laser, the glint of light turning red as the laser shined right through the scope and blinded the shooter behind it. While Bravo Two would be blinking the spots out of his eye, Bryan would be lining up the shot. He put the center of his crosshairs on the glint and squeezed the trigger, the glint disappearing when the bullet hit its target. Bryan allowed himself a self-satisfied smile as he stood up and stowed his rifle. He didn't need to examine the corpse to know the damage he'd just done. He'd put that bullet right through the scope and into Bravo Two's eye, an instant-kill headshot. He'd done that only one other time in his career, interestingly in the same scenario with a rival operative hunting him.

"You should've saved me the trouble, punk." He turned to head into the jungle, "Steele, two. Mercs, zero. Another good scorecard."

_**Kelutral**_** Omaticaya (Sector 15)**

**1453 Hours, 10 April 2164**

Davian stood on a lower branch of Hometree, staring out at the jungle. Sateyah had told him that he'd been doing a lot of that lately; just gazing out at the jungle while he thought. This time, he wasn't so much think as he was waiting. His father had been gone for a while, and Davian was expecting to hear from him any time now. He just had to be ready for it when he showed up.

"You are thinking again?" Sateyah came up behind him and laced her arm around his.

Davian shrugged, "A bit. It's more that I'm looking for something."

Sateyah looked at him, "What is it?"

"Well, it's…" The "something" Davian was looking for appeared over his mate's shoulder as a spotting laser danced on the nearby branch. The little red dot drew the letters "D", "A", and "D" before vanishing.

Davian smirked, "If you give me a few minutes, I think I'll be able to show you. I'll be right back." He left Sateyah on the branch as he descended the tree to go meet with his father. He was somewhat anxious about this meeting because he was hoping to break the shroud of secrecy concealing all this. Davian's father had proven that he was an ally to the Na'vi, so there was no need to keep everything all hush-hush. He wasn't concerned about how the Na'vi would accept him, but more how his father would react to the idea. Like the night before, Davian found his father's avatar casually leaning against a tree, working a combat knife around in his hand.

Bryan looked up from his knife and smiled, "Hey, kiddo."

"Hi, dad." Davian folded his arms over his chest, "I assume that you've taken out another team?"

His father nodded, "They were pretty good, actually. I almost enjoyed that dance."

Davian furrowed his brow, "Why do you call it a dance?"

"Because that's what it is. It's a lethal dance of death that we play." Bryan looked at his knife twirling in his fingers as he continued, "Imagine a waltz where you and your partner are _trying_ to step on each others' toes. You're trying to step on her toes while trying to keep your own toes from being stepped on. It's the same thing for snipers and operatives. You're constantly trying to nail your opponent while trying to stay out of his scope at the same time. It's a dance of death that only one dancer walks away from."

Davian's eyebrows rose, "Hmm. I never thought of it that way before."

Bryan nodded as he tossed his knife up and caught it by the tip, "That's because you were never trained to think like an operative, Davy. And that's training I hope you never get. I didn't want you following in your old man's footsteps, and I'm sure glad you didn't."

"So what's next?"

Bryan shrugged, "What else? I run the numbers again and take out the next team. I didn't get to be the best in the business by sitting on my hands all day." He twirled his knife one last time before sliding it into the sheath, "I've got to get back to my compound, son. As before, I'll report in when I've taken out the next team."

"Dad, before you go…" Davian's voice stopped him from leaving, "I don't know how you're going to take this, but I think it's important that I say it anyway." He paused for a moment, "I don't hate you for everything."

Bryan's eyes widened as he turned to face his son, "Say what?"

"I don't hate you for being an assassin or for being away so much when I was a kid. Part of me wanted to, but I can't. You made some mistakes, yeah, but you owned up to them. You're here now, facing the consequences instead of running from them. That says more about you than anything else ever could. I don't hate you, dad." Davian stepped forward and put his hand on his father's shoulder, "In fact, I can say honestly that I'm proud to have you as my father."

A tear glistened in Bryan's eye as he smiled at his son, "You don't know what it means to me to hear you say that, Davy."

Davian nodded in return, "I think I do, dad." He offered his hand. Bryan reluctantly shook his son's hand only to be pulled forward into a hug. At that point, he couldn't keep his composure any more. He wrapped his arms around his son as the tears began to flow; a hardened killer breaking down crying on his son's shoulder.

Davian held his father tight, "I love you, dad."

"I love you, Davy." Father and son held each other for several long moments before releasing one another.

Bryan dried his eyes before smiling at his son, "You're not going to tell anyone that I got all emotional on you, are you?"

Davian chuckled, "Your secret's safe with me, dad." He put his hand on his father's shoulder again, "Now, since I don't think we need all this secrecy anymore, are you going to let me introduce you to my mate and clan leader, or am I going to have to drag you kicking and screaming?"

Bryan furrowed his brow, "Davy, your clan leader was my first target. I don't think 'Hi, I'm the guy hired to kill you' is going to be a good intro."

His son shrugged, "Well, what Jake never finds out can't hurt you. Besides, you've already proven that you're a loyal ally to the Na'vi. That'll help." He motioned him toward Hometree, "So are you coming?"

"You bet I am." Bryan fell into step with Davian as they started toward the massive tree, "If nothing else, I want to meet the girl who won my boy's heart."

With the touching reunion, Davian finally introduced his father to Sateyah and to Jake and Neytiri. They even convinced Bryan to stay for a while and have dinner with the clan. Whereas the Omaticaya had long ago accepted their two token avatars as fellow clansmen, Bryan was very clearly treated as a Dreamwalker. He looked and acted drastically different and didn't know enough Na'vi to even ask "Where's the bathroom?". Different though he may have been, the Na'vi accepted him because of his relation to the clan's respected second-in-command, Davian. Overall, it was a fun evening. Bryan spent some good quality time with his son and daughter-in-law for the first time in many years. Davian had to endure a couple of embarrassing stories from his childhood, but that only made it all more interesting. Bryan Steele laughed and joked with his son and his friends for the first time in a very long time. He hadn't allowed himself to have this much fun in years.

As they parted ways for the night, Bryan couldn't help but look back at the enormous tree his son called home. Davian was happy here. He had a mate who loved him and the respect of his fellow clansmen. He had everything an honest man could ask for. As he turned into the jungle to return to his compound, Bryan's resolve hardened firmer than iron. This planet, strange though it may be, was his son's home. He had a good thing going here, and Bryan wasn't going to let anyone take that away from him. He didn't know it yet, but Davian had just found himself a guardian angel.


	5. Chapter 4

4

**Perimeter of _Kelutral_ Tseupizayu (Sector 06)**

**0906 Hours, 11 April 2164**

The jungle brush shifted gently aside as Bryan continued along the path. Davian had passed on that this clan had been having sightings of "Sky People", whatever that meant, along the perimeter of their territory for the last week or so. The descriptions were of a single person wearing "a skin of metal with great strength". The details left no other possibility than a human soldier in an AMP Suit. The question that still had Bryan scratching his head was how could an AMP Suit be useful for an assassination. The big, klutzy machines weren't known for their grace or stealth and a GAU-90 auto-rifle wasn't the most precise weapon on the block. Still, it was here and it was a threat, which meant it was worth investigating at least.

Steele activated the D-mike in his shoulder scanner as he moved through the jungle. The directional microphone followed his head movements and would allow him to pick out unusual sounds from the forest around him. He came within sight of the clan's Hometree before he started hearing strange noises through the trees a few hundred meters ahead. It sounded like a rhythmic mechanical whirring occasionally accompanied by the crunch of foliage beneath large feet, and it was getting closer. Bryan climbed a nearby tree to find a better vantage point. He had taken an hour earlier that morning to run through an impromptu obstacle course he'd set up back at his compound to get used to the avatar's sense of balance before heading out for the day. He found a strong branch and perched on it to wait. Why exert more effort looking for the prey when the prey comes to you? He waited for a little over five minutes, tracking the sound with his D-mike as it came closer. The patient hunter's prey came into view as a big AMP Suit smashed aside a small tree in its path, pushing into the nearby clearing.

Now that Bryan had a good look at his target, he understood how the AMP Suit could be used for an assassination. This Suit was equipped with a GAU-84B battle cannon, the predecessor weapon to the GAU-90. Whereas the GAU-90 was a fully automatic assault cannon, the 84B was a semi-automatic battle rifle. While slow-firing, the weapons were insanely accurate out to extended ranges. Combine that with a few tweaks to the AMP Suit's sensors and stability systems, and an experienced pilot could have a very stable sniping platform. Roll in the AMP Suit's lethality in close quarters, and it was an overall well-rounded weapon system. That didn't bode well for Steele, because it meant his target was encased in a shell of inch-thick aluminum armor. But every suit of armor had its weak points, and it was all a matter of finding and exploiting them.

As the AMP Suit passed beneath him, Bryan jumped from the tree to a clean landing on top of the cockpit. The pilot was nobody's fool and was ready for that sort of thing, but there was one problem. All AMP Suits had a fundamental flaw in there construction. The shoulder joints were placed on slider rails to give the arms a full range of motion both forward and outward, but it also formed a large gap between the shoulders where the hands couldn't reach. If an audacious attacker could climb up the Suit and get himself into that gap, he'd be out of reach. It was that exact flaw that Bryan intended to make use of. He immediately slid his legs off the back of the Suit and flattened himself out on top of the cockpit, putting him right in the middle of the gap. The Suit's pilot swung the free hand over his head several times, each time missing Steele by a little more than a foot. Bryan made his move between swings. He pulled himself up and jumped from the cockpit to land on the Suit's massive rifle, where he jammed his combat knife into the ammo belt and wrenched upward. With his strike complete, Bryan pulled his knife out and jumped backward, somersaulting to a graceful landing several meters away from the AMP Suit.

The pilot in the cockpit shook his head, "_Not smart, buddy. You should have used the opportunity while you had it._" He aimed the auto-rifle, "_Hope you've made peace with your maker_."

Rather than diving for cover like he should have, Bryan stood his ground, deftly dodging aside from first shot. The smallest caliber for AMP Suit weapons was 30mm, meaning even a graze could be deadly, but as always, Bryan had a plan. He dodged the first shot, ducked to evade the second, then simply stood up and folded his arms over his chest casually. The pilot shook his head again as he lined up the third shot, but it never came. Instead, he looked at his weapon and his instrument panel in shock when he heard nothing but the dissatisfying click of an empty chamber. Bryan smiled. His previous attack had strategically deformed the ammo belt's slides, irreparably jamming the feed. The AMP Suit's GAU-84B auto-cannon was now useless in every sense of the word.

That's when things took a turn for the worse. The pilot quickly jettisoned the ammo belt and tossed the rifle aside, then pulled, not one, but _two_ Suit Knives from sheaths on the mech's sides. Both knives were longer than normal by almost a foot and held a wickedly curved edge. Highly experienced though he was, the skilled operative hadn't accounted for that.

Bryan's smile vanished, "Oops." He ducked down quickly, narrowly avoiding getting halved, before quickly backpedaling to get out of reach. The Suit stepped forward and swung again with the other blade, missing by less than a meter. Bryan turned and jumped to rebound off of a tree and somersaulted forward over another swing, once again avoiding being cleaved in two. He hit the ground and dove forward, rolling on his shoulders between the AMP Suit's legs. Once again, the pilot was prepared for that when he raised the right foot and stomped down with crushing force. The force of the impact threw Steele off his feet, forcing him to roll again to regain his balance.

Once behind the Suit, Bryan turned and jumped onto its back between the exhaust vents. He pulled his knife again and jammed it into a small opening just behind the cockpit. The AMP Suit pilot staked one of his blades into the ground and reached back, grabbing Steele by the leg before throwing him forward. The avatar operative flew through the air, smashing against a tree squarely with his back and falling to the ground. Steele pushed himself up and took a breath as the AMP Suit picked up its other knife and stomped forward. Bryan looked up and quickly rolled to his right to avoid getting staked to the ground like a tent. He rolled onto his back and shoulder-sprang to his feet just in time to be clobbered with the back of the Suit's left hand. The blow sent Steele flying for another couple of meters to a rolling landing in the brush. He levered himself up again and shook his head to clear it as the pilot followed him, wanting to finish him off. He raised both knives and brought them down on the avatar. Steele quickly rolled away, nearly losing his tail to one of the blades as they staked into the ground where he'd just been. He turned to face the mech, glancing back over his shoulders. Between the terrain and the foliage, he'd run out of places to run. The AMP Suit walked up, brandishing a knife in each hand.

The pilot smirked viciously, "_You're out of room now, punk. You're mine._" The Suit raised the blades to strike, but stopped when the pilot started coughing uncontrollably for some reason. He caught his breath and looked at his HUD panel, his eyes widening when he saw it. In all the commotion, he hadn't noticed that his HUD was flashing atmosphere breach warnings. Bryan allowed himself to smile again. His combat knife was still parked in the AMP Suit's main oxygen scrubber, the device that cleaned the toxins out of Pandora's atmosphere to make it breathable. The pilot idled the Suit's movement as he scrambled for the auxiliary breather mask inside the cockpit. He pushed it onto his face, but was very surprised when that didn't help him, either.

Bryan shook his head, "That won't do you any good, buddy. The mask is linked to the oxy-scrubber, too." In a flash, Steele jumped forward, clambering up the Suit's height to perch on the side of the cockpit, where he pulled the emergency rescue handle to launch the canopy off the front. He leaned into the cockpit, pulling a pistol off his thigh and shoving the muzzle in the gasping pilot's face.

"Save the last dance for me." With that said, he pulled the trigger twice, ventilating the man's brains. He jumped off as the AMP Suit fell back with a rumbling thud, mimicking the movements of its dead pilot. He walked around to the cockpit and reached in to shut off the systems and reclaim his knife. Bryan then sat down on the mech's shoulder and took some time to catch his breath. He hadn't had a fight that good in a long time, and it took a bit out of him. But still, in the battle between avatar and AMP Suit, the avatar had come out the victor. It goes to show that technology can never really replace a good combination of experience, skill, and a long-ton of audacity.

Now that he had a free moment, Bryan noticed that the gun and knives weren't the only custom parts on this AMP Suit. In fact, nearly every part of the mech had been custom modified in some way. The armor was more extensive than your standard Suit model with bracing supports running down most of it, all of the joints had been reinforced, the sensor suite had been upgraded, even the canopy had been reinforced with hair-thin crisscrossing support wires. Steele marked the position on his arm console. The Suit was still in good condition, and he wanted to recover and salvage it. It might come in handy.

"If I never go through that again, I'll die a happy man." He stood up and wiped his brow as he turned into the jungle.

**Operative Field Compound (Sector 13)**

**0700 Hours, 13 April 2164**

Things were starting to look good now. Bryan sat at his desk in his compound looking over his screen. He'd intercepted several communications that held good tidings. He'd knocked off three of the seven assassin teams the RDA had on Pandora, and the rest were pulling back to Virgil's Keep. Two of the four remaining teams were demanding double their original asking price now, and the other two were flat-out refusing to keep going as long as this mysterious assassin-hunter was still lurking the jungles. An old, familiar smile curled across Bryan's lips as he studied the monitor. He'd accomplished his goal with the same ruthless efficiency that made his mark in the first place. The remaining assassin teams were now too scared to keep killing clan leaders, and it was going to stay that way if Bryan had anything to say about it.

A gentle knocking on the window behind him caused Steele to look over his shoulder. It was Davian and his mate, Sateyah. Steele smirked and shook his head. Again, somehow he'd managed to get passed the compound defenses undetected. He was going to have to check the sensors on the defense pylons. If Davian could successfully infiltrate his compound, twice no less, who knows what other critters could get in. Bryan held up a finger to tell his son to wait as he stood and headed to his link pod. He started the link sequence before hopping into the pod and closing the lid over him. He closed his eyes briefly only to open them a moment later outside in the avatar longhouse. He sat up on the bunk and stretched his arms as Davian and Sateyah walked in. Bryan smiled and gave a casual salute to his son and fellow soldier.

"Hi, dad." Davian returned his salute, "Glad we caught you here. Are you busy?"

Bryan shrugged, "Not really. Just forming a sit-rep. Why?"

"Well," Davian rubbed the back of his neck, "I'm actually here on official business this time. Jake wanted me to see if you had some time to come to Hometree for a special ceremony in your honor."

The veteran operative arched an eyebrow, "Ceremony?"

Sateyah nodded as she spoke up, "Jakesully wishes to honor you for what you have done for the People, Brayan." Once again, the Na'vi's thick English inflection made the pronunciation of human names a little interesting.

Bryan shook his head, "I don't think so, son. I may be a lot of things, but I'm no hero. I'll pass."

Davian shook his head, "I don't think you have an option, dad. Jake was very insistent. You've helped us so much, and he wants to make sure credit goes where it's due." He walked up to his father and rested his hand on his shoulder, "And besides, you may not think you're a hero, but you're way more than that in my book."

Bryan looked up at his son, "Your book's the only one that really matters to me, Davy." He breathed a burdened sigh, "All right. I guess I'll come along. No sense in putting off the inevitable." Bryan slapped one of his pistols on before leaving his compound with his son and daughter-in-law. The two natives had made the journey on the ground because Bryan didn't have his own bonded _ikran_, and flying with two often strained the banshee's passenger limits. Direhorses, on the other hand, made the trip a lot quicker than it would've been on foot, and Bryan could double up with his son. When they arrived at Hometree, it was early afternoon, and the entire clan was gathered beneath the tree at the base of the spiral roots. Jake stood further up on the roots so everyone could see him. When Bryan arrived, Jake called him forward to stand before the entire clan. Needless to say, he felt more than a little exposed. It wasn't the first time he'd received a medal or commendation for his service, but that didn't make the experience any more enjoyable. Bryan always felt vulnerable in crowds, a lasting effect from his life as an assassin.

Davian translated as Jake spoke to the clan in Na'vi, "The Sky People and Dreamwalkers have brought us nothing but pain, destruction, and death until now. Here before you stands Brayansteele, father of Davyan. He is a Dreamwalker who has helped the People greatly in the past days. He has hunted down those who would seek to kill our clan leaders and harm us, and in so doing has ensured our safety. For this, we wish to honor him today." Jake turned to face Bryan and placed his hands on his shoulders, "As _olo'eyktan_ of the Omaticaya, I grant you an honorary place among our clan. If you would ever wish to join us one day, we would welcome you with open arms."

Bryan nodded firmly, "It was my pleasure to–" He never finished as the crack of a distant rifle heralded a bullet snapping by, grazing Bryan between his chest and his arm. He cursed loudly and dropped to one knee, holding the wound with his other hand.

"Dad!" Davian stepped forward to see if his father was all right.

"Get back!" He pushed his son away, "He's still aiming at me! Get to cover!" The clan scattered into the tree while the leaders, Jake, Davian, Neytiri, and Sateyah, all dove for cover around Bryan.

Davian leaned over from here he was behind a root, "Are you all right, dad?"

Bryan nodded subtly, "It was just a graze. I'm playing it up; making it look worse than it is." He cursed under his breath, "I should've known they'd come after me sooner or later."

Jake glanced over his cover to where the shot came from, "What're you going to do?"

"I'm going to do what I do best." He glanced around briefly, "Have any guns around here?"

Davian shook his head, "None we can get at."

Bryan nodded in return, "I'm going to make a run for it on three. And whatever you do, _don't_ follow me. Got it?" Davian nodded.

"Okay…one…two…_three_!" Bryan suddenly stood and took off at a sprint toward the trees. He stopped suddenly once as another rifle report sounded and a small column of dirt lifted in front of him. A second time, the operative dove forward, rolling on his shoulders as another sniper round cratered the dirt where he'd just been. In less than ten seconds, Bryan was gone like a shot.

Bryan pushed through the brush, cursing his sloppiness. He'd let his success go to his head. He forgot that the RDA would be sending someone after him soon. He was going to have to improvise on the fly here. He pulled his pistol from his thigh and frowned. It was a short-range weapon and he only had the one clip for it. He slapped it back on his hip and pulled his knife as he pushed on. Not having a proper weapon was going to complicate matters.

"Scan. Recall ballistics data, present minus thirty." His monocle deployed over his eye as the scanner on his shoulder recalled the events of the last thirty seconds, tracing the paths of the sniper rounds that were fired at him. His eyepiece called up a map of the area and highlighted a nearby ridge, well concealed and with a good view of Hometree. Bryan nodded as he started heading in that direction.

"_Good to see time hasn't slowed you down any, old man._"

Bryan stopped in his tracks and furrowed his brow at the voice over his comm, "Identify yourself immediately."

"_Aw. And here I was hoping this was going to be a teary reunion. Hard to believe you could forget your best student_."

Steele's eyes widened as the memory came flashing back, "Rankovich!" Alexi Rankovich had been a fellow operative that Bryan had trained personally. Their skill sets were identical, except Rankovich's abilities weren't kept in check by a conscience.

"_So you do remember me. I'm flattered. How you holding up, old man?_"

"Not bad." Bryan shrugged as he continued toward the ridge, "My shoulder's flaring up these days. It might be better if you weren't shooting at me."

"_Sorry, old man. The money's on your dead body. And I aim to deliver._"

Steele frowned, "You'd turn on your old mentor just for a paycheck? I never figured you'd stoop _that_ low."

"_You forget, old man. You're the one who taught me to be ruthless. Now it's time to show the old dog the new tricks._" Rankovich chuckled over the comm, "_Hey, Steele. What's that phrase your Na'vi buddies like to say all the time? Oh yeah…I see you._"

Experience told Bryan that Rankovich's pun was no joke. He looked down at his chest to find the bright red dot of a spotting laser dancing there. He ducked and rolled just as the rifle sounded off, the bullet splintering into a tree through the air where he'd just been. Bryan rolled to the cover of a rock and cursed under his breath.

"_You can't hide forever, Steele. You'll run out of tricks sooner or later. Time to die, old man._" The channel cut abruptly. Bryan cursed again as he pushed through the foliage. Fortunately, that last shot had confirmed Rankovich's location. Steele's scanner traced the shot to the ridge a few hundred meters ahead and about a dozen up. He rolled his knife as he pressed forward. This was not going to end well.

Back at Hometree, the others had come out of cover and were waiting for Bryan to come back. Obviously, Davian was worried for his father's safety. He kicked some dust as he fastened a comm collar around his neck, hoping to hear from his dad soon.

Neytiri leaned against a root behind her, "Can he do it?"

"He can do it." Davian nodded, "I'm just hoping he doesn't get hurt. He's not as young as he used to be."

Davian's comm channel buzzed, but not with his father's voice, "_So you're Steele's boy. Nice to meet you._" The voice was deep and scrambled, obviously a mask over the speaker's real voice.

Davian held his hand to his ear, "Who is this?"

"_I ask the questions, kid. Do yourself a favor and don't move._"

Jake looked at Davian and his eyes widened, "Davian…don't panic, but look at your chest."

Davian looked down at his chest to find a bright red spotting laser dancing over his heart, causing him to cringe and freeze. Sateyah's eyes widened and she gasped.

The shooter's voice came over the comm again, "_Smart kid. You just stay put now. I'd hate to see your old man's face if I had to pop you._"

Further away, Bryan continued moving through the brush, making good time toward the ridge, when his comm buzzed with Rankovich's voice again.

"_Hey, Steele. Check your feed._"

Bryan furrowed his brow as his monocle HUD showed an incoming video link. When it opened, the image showed a sniper's scope trained on Davian's chest.

"Davy!" Bryan's heart skipped a beat before he frowned hard, "If you so much as scratch him–"

"_I'm sure you'll do something scary. Here's the deal, Steele: give up or your kid gets it. You've got ten minutes._" The channel cut off abruptly. Bryan cursed and picked up his pace. Now, Davian's life was on the line. He was going to have to hit fast and hard, or Rankovich would get the shot off.

By the time Steele reached the ridge, seven of the ten minutes had passed. He pushed aside a big leaf to find himself looking at an avatar crouched behind a stump, a marksman rifle to his shoulder. There was also a Samson transport at that far end of the clearing. Steele shook his head. The fact that Rankovich had his own avatar was proof that he'd been working with the RDA for a while now. He was probably the cause of a number of the Na'vi's troubles of late. Bryan tensed as he worked his knife in his hand once to secure his grip. With that, he charged from the brush with every intent to plant his knife in Rankovich's neck.

He never got the chance. Bryan came within three meters of the rival operative when tendrils of electricity played over his body and he was gripped with crippling pain. He could've sworn that he saw the inside of his link chamber once or twice, as though his link with the avatar was breaking. He dropped his knife and fell to his knees, unable to move from the paralyzing effect.

Rankovich's avatar stood up, leaving the rifle where on the stump, "Wasn't it you who taught me to never be predictable? But then, I scope your brat and you walk right into my web. You're getting sloppy, old man." He tapped a small pulsing device in the middle of the clearing as he approached, "Psionic disruptor. Scrambles the link with your avatar. It can't break the link, but it does bugger up motor control real good." He tapped a finger on a device he wore as a headband, likely an inhibitor to keep from suffering the disruptor's effects.

"How long have you been with the RDA, Rankovich?" Steele ground his words through teeth gritted with pain.

Rankovich shrugged, "A few years. It was my idea to start popping clan leaders in the first place. And I'm betting it would've worked if you hadn't gone all 'hero' like that."

Bryan worked his neck around to look at his former student, "Where're you linking out of?"

"Mobile link." Rankovich jabbed a thumb toward the Samson, which had a closed link pod in the back, "Which is what you should've done in the first place, old man." He slapped Bryan on the shoulder once before turning toward a crate of equipment to grab a set of restraints, "You should've known that taking control of your avatar was just the first step. Once that's taken care of, I'll hunt down the real you. It looks like the apprentice has finally overcome the master. Thanks for getting sloppy, old man."

Bryan knew he only had a little time to spare before Rankovich would disable his avatar. He clenched his teeth against the pain as he mustered what strength he had, reaching to his shoulder.

"Overload!" With the verbal command given, he wrenched his scanner off his shoulder and threw it at the psionic disruptor. The device struck it just in time to explode, sending little blue tendrils of lightning over the disruptor's surface and causing it's operation lights to flicker and die. Free of the disruptor's effects, Bryan grabbed his knife and leaped forward, jamming the blade into the control panel and wrenching upward to take it out of commission for good. Rankovich turned at the commotion to find his prisoner had set himself free.

He furrowed his brow, "How'd you do that?"

"Advanced electrical engineering." Bryan kicked the disruptor for good measure, "Any electronic device capable of transmission can produce a poor man's EMP when overloaded just the right way. Which is why I rewired my scanner to overload like that for just such an occasion. Never thought I'd have to use it until now." He yanked his knife out of the panel, "No more tricks and toys. It's just you and me now, Alex."

Rankovich shrugged, "I suppose that would make things a little more sporting. But I don't like to press my luck." He pulled a pistol from his hip and took aim, but never had a chance to use it as Bryan closed the distance and slapped the gun out of his hand just as he fired. Bryan came around with his knife, Rankovich stopping him short by blocking his wrist. Bryan reversed direction, coming around for a slash that Rankovich ducked under. The rival operative drew a knife of his own and swung a cross slash aimed for Bryan's neck. Bryan deflected and ducked, getting the tip of the blade across his cheek. Rankovich took control of Bryan's knife hand, forcing him to punch him across the jaw with his left. Rankovich retaliated in kind, landing a blow to both Bryan's face and ribs. Bryan fell back under Rankovich's weight, pulling him down as well. Both knives were tossed aside as the fight degraded into a grapple, both avatars tumbling over each other in an attempt to gain the advantage. At one point, they rolled up with Rankovich coming out on top, where he landed a stiff punch to Bryan's face. The veteran responded by lashing upward with his leg, kicking Rankovich in the back of the head. They climbed off each other only to turn and tackle each other again.

They rolled until Rankovich came out on top again, pinning Bryan face down on the ground. He looked forward as his former pupil pressed his face into the dirt to find his knife just barely out of arm's reach. Rankovich looked also to find the same thing and both made a dive for the weapon. In one final push, Bryan grabbed Rankovich's queue and yanked, pulling him to the ground before leaning out to grab his knife. He then rolled over and slammed the knife down into the ground, slicing clean through his rival's queue. Rankovich screamed with the pain and rolled away, holding his head with both hands.

He looked up and looked around, his eyes widening, "My eyes. My eyes! I can't see! I'm blind!"

"I wasn't as sloppy as you think." Bryan tapped a finger on his own queue wrapped around his neck as he picked himself up from the ground, "Sight's the first sense to go when you loose the ponytail. You'll loose a few more in a couple of hours." He pressed his knee into Rankovich's back, "But you're not going to get that opportunity." Bryan grabbed the avatar's head with both hands and twisted hard, rewarded with a sickening crack and the limbs going limp. He stood up off the body and looked toward the Samson with Rankovich's link unit. Whereas killing a linked avatar could kill the driver, there were fail-safes in the link chambers that prevented that, leaving it to Bryan to do it the hard way. He walked over to the Samson and turned to solidly kick the link pod. The hatch came flying off with the force of the blow and Rankovich started scurrying out, an exo-pack already on his face. Bryan towered over him as he reached down and picked Rankovich up by his collar, holding him a good meter off the ground. The height difference between humans and Na'vi made the moment all the more intimidating.

Rankovich smiled behind his mask, "Come on, Steele. You're not sore at me, are you?"

Bryan gave a smile that was completely devoid of mirth, "I think I am. Let's recap: you pointed a gun at the only thing in this world that matters to me." He turned and threw Rankovich against a tree, "Any other threat would've just rolled off my back. But you crossed the line when you threatened my son." He stormed over and picked him up again, "I would've just handed you over to the Na'vi and let them deal with you. But that's not enough for me since you threatened Davy." He started toward the other side of the ridge with Rankovich in hand.

"Come on, Steele." Rankovich shook his head as he struggled, "You're not going to just kill me like that."

"Why not?" the veteran operative smirked, "I'm the one who taught you to be ruthless. Remember?" He stopped at the edge of the ridge, where a lair of viperwolves lay below. The animals looked up and started snarling and yelping.

Rankovich glanced down before looking at Bryan, "You can't!"

"Watch me." Steele yanked Rankovich's exo-pack off, "Save the last dance for me." With that said, he dropped his former student and rival down to a grim fate with the viperwolves. Rankovich's scream's were soon drowned by his gasps for air in the toxic Pandoran atmosphere, and were quickly replaced with silence.

Steele nodded slowly as he looked down, "The music ends; the dance is finished."

"_Dad, are you there? Do you copy?_"

Bryan raised a hand to his ear, "I'm here, son. I'm all right." He turned his head to spit out some blood from a split lip, "More or less."

Davian sounded relieved over the comm, "_Thank Eywa. We knew something happened, but we didn't know what. I'm just glad you're all right._"

"The feeling's mutual, Davy."

"_What happened up there?_"

Steele looked down to the now well-fed viperwolves, "Just finishing the circle of life for an old friend." He nodded once as he turned to leave, "Scorecard, Na'vi: one, RDA: zippo."


	6. Epilogue

Epilogue

**Operative Field Compound (Sector 13)**

**0700 Hours, 14 April 2164**

Bryan looked around his home in his Pandora compound. He never would've expected this place to feel as homey as it did, but it had become his home for the duration of this incident. He had started getting attached to this mysterious planet and it's blue-skinned natives. That attachment was finalized knowing that his son was one of them. It made for an interesting turn of events since he was originally brought here to kill one of them.

The communication terminal on Bryan's desk came to life with Selfridge's face on the screen. Steele looked up from assembling his new scanner and smiled. He'd been expecting this call.

Selfridge did not look pleased, "Steele. I'm glad I caught you at home."

Bryan smiled, "Selfridge. How have you been? Have you been getting the fruit baskets I sent you?"

"Would you care to explain yourself, Mr. Steele?"

Bryan shook his head, "Not really, no."

"This isn't what we wanted, Mr. Steele."

The operative nodded, "I think I've made it abundantly clear by now that I don't give a crap about what you want."

Selfridge shook his head, "You won't get away with this, Steele."

"I don't need to get away with it, because for once in my life, I'm doing the right thing." Bryan walked over to the desk and braced his hands on the top, leaning close to the monitor, "You still don't get it, do you, Selfrigde? I'm the best there is at this game. And I know that because I just finished killing off all the other players. I'm on a remote planet, covered in jungles, surrounded by allies who would be glad to help hide me if I needed to. I could disappear so well that my own shadow couldn't find me. What makes you think you have half a prayer?" He chuckled lightly, "Don't you see, Selfridge? You've lost."

"Steele, you will not–" Selfridge never finished his sentence on account of Steele cutting the signal and deleting the frequency.

He smiled to himself, "I've been waiting a long time to do that." He turned from his desk and looked out the window. He could see Omaticaya Hometree in the distance, close enough that he could be there for Davian if he ever needed him again. Bryan still had a few good years left in him, and he vowed that he would spend them here, with his son, where a father belonged. Neither Davian nor the Na'vi knew it, but they now had an ever-watchful and ever-vengeful guardian angel. As long as he drew breath, Bryan was going to see to it to put his skills as an operative and assassin to use defending his son and this world. Bryan looked around his home in his Pandora compound. He never would've expected this place to feel as homey as it did, but that's what happens when the sins of the father have finally been forgiven.


End file.
